Collapse starts a clock. Aid can stop it.

When a character's Vitality (VIT) reaches 0 or falls below it, use this chapter immediately. It establishes the character's state, tells you which roll happens next, and explains how First Aid and magical healing can help. Unconscious is stable; Critical is a diminishing recovery clock; Dying allows one Last Gasp.

Principle: Resolve the character's state first. Then follow the recovery, aid, or healing procedure for that state.

These rules use the VIT and Action Dice (AD) relationship defined in Vitality. A character who becomes Unconscious, Critical, or Dying is also Prone. Waking does not stand them up; standing costs 1 AD as described in Combat.

Collapse States

A character is either Active or in one of four collapse states: Unconscious, Critical, Dying, or Deceased. A character can occupy only one state at a time. When VIT reaches 0 or falls below it, use the character's current VIT and Critical Recovery Pool to find the matching row.

Tip: Check VIT first, then the Critical Recovery Pool. You do not choose between Unconscious, Critical, and Dying; the character's current values determine the state.

A character who has collapsed does not make a Continuation Check. Only characters who remain Active after Wounds can make that check.

Recovery Rolls

A Recovery Roll tests whether an Unconscious character wakes or a Critical character stabilises before their recovery clock runs out.

Recovery Dice are ordinary Narateer dice used only for this procedure. They are not taken from the character's Action Dice or Magic Dice, and rolling them does not change either pool. Unconscious Recovery Dice are gathered fresh for each roll. A Critical Recovery Pool is persistent and can diminish between rolls.

A Recovery Roll is not a Skill Check and cannot be Boosted. Advantage and Disadvantage can apply only when a rule explicitly grants either one to a Recovery Roll. Resolve Advantage or Disadvantage during the Edge Phase, then read only the final faces. Use the mutually exclusive outcome row that matches those faces.

At the start of an Unconscious or Critical character's turn, make the Recovery Roll for their current state before they could act. If a dangerous or urgent scene has no formal turn order, the Guide calls for Recovery Rolls at turn-length intervals.

Once the character is safe and no urgent pressure remains, do not repeat Unconscious Recovery Rolls simply to seek a better result. The character remains stable until a rule restores VIT or another Recovery Roll carries a meaningful consequence. Critical and Dying characters remain on the clock even outside turn order: a Critical character makes Recovery Rolls at turn-length intervals, and a Dying character reaches Last Gasp at the next such interval.

Unconscious

A character at exactly 0 VIT is Unconscious and stable. Failed rolls do not reduce a pool and cannot move the character to Dying.

Unconscious Recovery Dice = RES

At the start of the character's turn, gather Recovery Dice equal to their Resilience (RES), resolve any Edge, and use this table:

Disadvantage from All Misses applies only to the next Recovery Roll. It then ends, whether it changed the roll or was cancelled by Advantage. A new All Misses result can impose it again.

If an Unconscious character suffers another Wound, reduce VIT below 0 and enter Critical. Establish the Critical Recovery Pool from the new VIT.

Example: Unconscious Recovery

Roryn is at 0 VIT with RES 2. Her final faces are 1 Hit and 1 Critical Hit, so the Exactly 1 Critical Hit row applies. She restores 1 VIT, moves 1 Wounded AD to Ready, and wakes Prone. She must spend 1 AD if she wants to stand.

Critical

A character below 0 VIT is Critical while their Critical Recovery Pool contains at least 1 die. The pool measures how many Recovery Dice remain before the character enters Dying.

Critical Recovery Pool = RES − number of VIT points below 0 (minimum 0)

At VIT −1, for example, subtract 1 from RES. Record that number when you enter Critical in the Critical Recovery field on the character sheet, or place that many dice beside it. Do not reset the pool while you remain Critical. If the initial pool is 0, enter Dying immediately.

At the start of the character's turn, roll every die currently in the Critical Recovery Pool, resolve any Edge, and use this table:

All Misses loses 2 Recovery Dice in total, not 1 and then 2 more. A pool cannot fall below 0. If a result reduces it to 0, enter Dying; do not make a Last Gasp until the start of the character's following turn.

Each further Wound suffered while Critical reduces VIT by 1 and reduces the current Critical Recovery Pool by 1. Do not recalculate the pool upward or restore dice lost on earlier rolls. If the pool reaches 0, enter Dying.

Whenever you leave Critical, clear the Critical Recovery Pool. If you later re-enter Critical, establish a new pool from your VIT at that time.

Tip: The Critical Recovery Pool is a clock, not a fresh dice pool. Record every die lost and roll only the dice that remain.

Example: The Critical Clock

Taomkin has RES 3 and falls from 1 VIT to −1 after suffering 2 Wounds. He enters Critical with 2 Recovery Dice. His first roll ends with 1 Hit and 1 Miss, so he loses 1 Recovery Die and records a pool of 1. On his next turn, that remaining die ends as a Critical Hit. Taomkin sets VIT to 0, becomes Unconscious, and clears the pool.

Dying and Death

A character enters Dying when their Critical Recovery Pool reaches 0. Dying creates a rescue window: an ally may use an effect that can restore VIT before the character's next turn.

If the character is still Dying at the start of their following turn, roll exactly 1 Narateer die for their Last Gasp:

A Last Gasp is not a Recovery Roll or Skill Check. It cannot be Boosted and does not resolve Advantage or Disadvantage unless a rule explicitly names Last Gasp. A character rescued from Dying before this timing does not roll it.

Ordinary healing and First Aid cannot affect a Deceased character. Only a rule that explicitly says it affects a Deceased character can do so.

Tip: Dying lasts only until the start of the character's following turn. First Aid cannot rescue them; an effect that restores VIT can.

First Aid

First Aid is a Major Action taken by a conscious character within reach of an Unconscious or Critical target. The acting character must be able to reach and treat the injury in the fiction.

1. Describe the immediate treatment.
2. Spend and roll 1 Ready AD for a Routine Medicine Skill Check at DR 0. You may Boost normally up to your Medicine SL.
3. Resolve the Skill Check. Every committed AD becomes Used whether the check succeeds or fails.
4. On a success, the target has Advantage on their next Recovery Roll. The benefit ends after that roll or when the target leaves Unconscious or Critical, whichever happens first.

Several successful First Aid attempts do not stack. First Aid restores no VIT or Recovery Dice and does not affect a Last Gasp, a Dying character, or a Deceased character.

Tip: First Aid improves the target's next Recovery Roll. It does not add Recovery Dice, refill the Critical Recovery Pool, or delay Last Gasp.

Magical Healing

Magical healing follows the effect's written amount and the general limits in Vitality, with these state rules:

• Active or Unconscious: Restore VIT normally. For each VIT restored, move 1 Wounded AD to Ready. An Unconscious character wakes only if their VIT rises above 0, and they wake Prone.
• Critical or Dying: The first point of magical healing sets the target's VIT to 0, is consumed, clears the Critical Recovery Pool, and makes them Unconscious. Apply any remaining healing normally, moving 1 Wounded AD to Ready for each additional VIT restored. They wake only if their VIT rises above 0, and they wake Prone.
• Deceased: Magical healing has no effect on a Deceased character unless the effect explicitly says otherwise.

Magical healing that restores at least 1 point can therefore rescue a Dying character before Last Gasp. An effect reduced to 0 healing does not stabilise them.

Example: Rescue Before Last Gasp

Lenora's Critical Recovery Pool reaches 0, so she enters Dying and will make Last Gasp at the start of her following turn. Before then, an ally restores 2 VIT with magic. The first point sets Lenora to 0 VIT; the second raises her to 1 VIT and moves 1 Wounded AD to Ready. She wakes Prone and does not make Last Gasp.

Quick Reference

Summary

• At 0 VIT, a character becomes Unconscious, stable, and Prone.
• Below 0 VIT, establish a persistent Critical Recovery Pool from RES and current VIT. Enter Critical if it contains at least 1 die, or Dying immediately if it starts at 0.
• Recovery Rolls are not Skill Checks, cannot be Boosted, and use only their final faces after the Edge Phase.
• Unconscious characters roll fresh Recovery Dice equal to RES. Critical characters roll only the dice remaining in their persistent pool.
• When the Critical Recovery Pool reaches 0, the character enters Dying and waits until the start of their following turn to make one Last Gasp.
• A Critical Hit on Last Gasp sets VIT to 0. A Hit or Miss makes the character Deceased.
• Successful First Aid grants Advantage on the next Recovery Roll but restores no VIT or Recovery Dice and cannot help a Dying character.
• Magical healing can rescue a Critical or Dying character. The first point is consumed to set VIT to 0; any remaining healing then applies normally.
• A character who wakes is Prone.